Treacherous Toys
Page 26
Then it happened. He dropped down on one knee and took out a ring.
By that time, a crowd had begun to form. And not just of visitors. It seemed as if half the Village was there looking over Chase’s shoulder as he offered me the beautiful, antique ring.
“Lady Jessie Morton, will thou take my hand in marriage and live here with me? I pledge my undying fealty and love to you. You have only to say yes.”
What else could I say to this perfect man that I loved? “Yes, Sir Bailiff. I will marry you and love you forever with all my heart.”
I wondered how long it would take to plan a real Renaissance wedding and how I was going to get back at Wanda while I was doing it.
Ye Olde Village Crier
Greetings!
The holiday season has changed a lot through the centuries. Christmas as we know it is much different than the Christmases celebrated during the English Renaissance.
Twelfth Night was the name of the festival lasting through December to Epiphany. The churches battled each other over how festive this celebration should be, what days it should be held, even what food should be eaten. Many people were afraid to openly celebrate the holiday for fear of getting into trouble with one faction or another.
Carols were born during the 1500s. Saint Francis of Assisi is said to have written many of the original carols as a way to celebrate the season
Of course, the rich celebrated the season with much more ceremony, food, and gifts than the poor. The servants and peasants were allowed only half days to celebrate, after which they had to return to their work.
For the rich, there was music and lavish gifts. No amount of food was too much or too unusual. There would be stuffed peacocks, pounds of marzipan, and hundreds of roasted, boiled, and baked dishes. Wine flowed freely, and the guests at these feasts were treated to amazing splendor. A dessert course during the holidays might have two hundred different fruits, sweet cakes, and jellies.
Boar’s head was always the centerpiece of the main meal during the season. It was garnished with fruit, rosemary, and other costly herbs and presented as though it were to the king himself.
The legend of Father Christmas has grown and evolved over hundreds of years. In the late nineteenth century, his persona started to merge with that of Saint Nick, who was himself a compilation of several saints named Nicholas famed for their good deeds. Depictions of Father Christmas adopted Saint Nick’s red and white color scheme, which is said to have been appropriated from bishop’s robes. Father Christmas’s once brown beard was changed to white as the myth continued. Because Christmas was celebrated in all parts of the world, in one form or another, the various incarnations of folkloric holiday gift givers meshed together, so much so that Father Christmas, Saint Nick, and Santa Claus are virtually interchangeable today.
Fruitcakes are said to have originated in ancient Rome, but they became widely popular during the Renaissance. Recipes were greatly prized and rarely shared between families. Church regulations forbade the use of butter in the recipe until Pope Innocent VIII issued a letter known as the “Butter Letter,” allowing it. He also decreed that honey could be used.
These cakes were different than what we would expect of a cake today. With their rough flour and log shape, they were more like bread, though they were decorated with marzipan and other rich icings.
Traditional English Fruit Cake, sometimes known as spice cake, was a celebration cake, one of the few sanctioned by the Church during the Renaissance. While today we think of it as ordinary or even plain, during the Renaissance, it was anything but.
RENAISSANCE FRUIT CAKE
This recipe produces a close likeness of a Renaissance fruitcake. The cake is better the longer you let it set. During the Renaissance, it was made six weeks or longer before it was eaten.
12 ounces plain flour
2 tablespoons mixed spices (listed below)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1 pound butter
1 pound brown sugar
2 tablespoons black treacle
1 dozen eggs
2 pounds mixed dried fruit
6 ounces chopped mixed fruit peel
6 ounces chopped nuts (your choice)
1 bottle brandy, whiskey, or sherry
6 ounces chopped glacè cherries
Sift the flour with the spices. In a separate bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and treacle. Beat in the eggs. Stir in the dried fruit, peel, and nuts, and then add half of the brandy. Stir well. Fold in the cherries, and transfer the batter to a greased and floured loaf or bundt baking pan; smooth the top with a knife. Bake for 4 to 4 1/2 hours until a skewer inserted in middle of cake comes out clean. Let the cake cool slightly, then turn it out onto a wire cooling rack.
When the cake has cooled completely, wrap it in aluminum foil and store in a cool dry place. Once a week, for six weeks, unwrap the cake and use a brush to cover it with some of the remaining brandy, then rewrap it. The cake is ready to eat when all the brandy has been applied. Makes multiple servings.
Huzzah!